{"id":44091,"date":"2021-10-24T20:40:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T02:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwest-colorado-expected-to-receive-moisture-from-atmospheric-river-moving-in-from-pacific\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:17:18","slug":"southwest-colorado-expected-to-receive-moisture-from-atmospheric-river-moving-in-from-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwest-colorado-expected-to-receive-moisture-from-atmospheric-river-moving-in-from-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwest Colorado expected to receive moisture from \u2018atmospheric river\u2019 moving in from Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The La Plata and San Juan mountains on Saturday are bare on the south slopes, but on Monday through Wednesday, the mountains should become covered in snow as a weather system moves through the area. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A large amount of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, known as an \u201catmospheric river,\u201d is headed for Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s basically this strong plume of moisture that comes off of the Pacific,\u201d said Erin Walter, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. \u201cIt\u2019s like this continuous stream, almost like a jet but in the form of moisture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, the atmospheric river dumped more than 5 inches of rain in the San Francisco area, Walter said.<\/p>\n

Most of the moisture from the storm system will be dropped in California over the Sierra Nevada\u2019s and the Great Basin, with Southwest Colorado getting the last bit of that precipitation on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t going to see feet of snow like the Sierra Nevada\u2019s, but we are going to see some precipitation,\u201d Walter said.<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado has been experiencing warm conditions, which will be a determining factor in how much precipitation falls in the region, Walter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing snow amounts higher up Tuesday morning, and then as the system moves through, some colder air will move in behind it,\u201d Walter said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A plume of moisture known as an atmospheric river is making its way across the states, and will bring rainfall to Southwest Colorado on Tuesday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Towns along U.S. Highway 160 should expect around a quarter of an inch of rain Tuesday, with some areas potentially seeing higher, localized amounts of rainfall around half an inch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect at least a quarter of an inch for Durango, Cortez and Pagosa Springs,\u201d Walter said.<\/p>\n

As for snow, Silverton is expected to get about an inch of powder in the city, with around 5 to 8 inches in higher elevations of the San Juan Mountains.<\/p>\n

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its winter outlook for temperature, precipitation and drought Thursday. NOAA said this will be the second La Ni\u00f1a year in a row. La Ni\u00f1a seasons are caused by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Tropical Pacific.<\/p>\n

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